WISTEM Center Director

Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross

Judith Iriarte-Gross is a professor of chemistry and director of the Women In STEM,
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, (WISTEM) Center at MTSU. She earned
her B.S. and M.S. in Chemistry from the University of Maryland, College Park and her
Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of South Carolina. She completed
a post-doctoral research project which focused on inorganic polymers at Southern Methodist
University. Before joining Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in 1996, she
worked as a chemist for the FDA and as a chemistry lab manager in the plastics industry.

Dr. Iriarte-Gross volunteered with local Expanding Your Horizons, EYH, conferences
in the Dallas-Fort Worth area from 1990 to 1996. After moving to Murfreesboro TN
in August 1996, where she joined the faculty at MTSU, Dr. Iriarte-Gross started the
first EYH in Tennessee which has since served over 10,000 girls. EYH introduces middle
and high school girls to STEM role models and mentors through hands-on, girls-only
workshops. Girls from Tennessee as well as southern Kentucky, northern Alabama and
Georgia have attended the MTSU EYH. Tennessee is home to seven EYH conference sites:
the first at MTSU in Murfreesboro followed by Memphis, Morristown, Columbia, Maryville,
Gallatin and Knoxville.

Dr. Iriarte-Gross has been a PI or Co-PI on six National Science Foundation, NSF,
awards. In 2007, Dr. Iriarte-Gross was awarded an NSF grant titled A Dissemination Project To Increase Girls Raised in Tennessee Science (GRITS). This project provided information for Tennessee girls, parents, teachers and guidance
counselors about STEM education and careers. This grant also supported the growth
of EYH Conference sites across Tennessee. Because of her work with GRITS, the National
Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) named Dr. Iriarte-Gross lead of the GRITS Collaborative
Project for the state of Tennessee in 2008. In 2009, she was named director of the
MTSU WISTEM Center. In July 2014, Dr. Iriarte-Gross and four other STEM faculty at
MTSU, were awarded an NSF ADVANCE grant. This study, A Catalyst to ADVANCE the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic STEM
Careers at Middle Tennessee State University, focuses on identifying barriers that affect recruitment, retention, participation
and promotion of women STEM faculty at MTSU.

Dr. Iriarte-Gross is nationally known for her advocacy for encouraging girls and women
in the sciences. She is involved in local and national programs which support the
recruitment, retention and graduation of girls and women in STEM education and careers.
For this work, she was a nominee for the 2014 Presidential Award for Excellence in
Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. She was named an Association for Women
in Science (AWIS) Fellow in 2009, served as secretary of the AWIS Executive Board
in 2011 and is currently co-President of the Tennessee Chapter of AWIS. She represents
AWIS on the National Champions Board of NGCP. A former Upward Bound student, she
received the TRIO Achievers Award for Washington D. C. in 2010. She is an active
member and councilor of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and serves on the Nashville
(ACS) Local Section Women Chemists Committee. In 2014, she was named to the ACS
Leadership Advisory Board in recognition of her work with girls and women in STEM
and in 2016, was named an ACS Fellow.

She is an at-large member of Iota Sigma Pi and President of the MTSU Sigma Xi Chapter.
In May 2014, she received the first Athena International Leadership award by Rutherford
CABLE. She was named a Woman of Influence by the Nashville Business Journal in 2015.
She is the faculty advisor of the MTSU Women In Science and Engineering (WISE) student
organization and WISE Living and Learning (residential) Community. She was recognized
by the Tennessee Science Teachers Association as the 2016 Science Educator of the
Year for Higher Education. She was elected a Fellow of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science in 2016. She is the 2017 recipient of the ACS National
Award (sponsored by the Dreyfus Foundation): Encouraging Women into Careers in the
Chemical Sciences. She received the SERMACS 2017 P3 award on behalf of the Nashville
Local Section and the MTSU WISTEM Center for their collaboration on the MTSU EYH Conference
for over 20 years. In August 2018, Dr. Iriarte-Gross received the MTSU Foundation’s
Career Achievement Award, the highest award for an MTSU faculty member. In May 2019,
she presented the commencement address to the M.S., Ed.D., and Ph.D. graduates at
MTSU. The Nashville Technology Council recognized the work and dedication of the WISTEM
Center and its signature program, EYH, with the 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Initiative
of the Year.

Dr. Iriarte-Gross is a native of Washington D. C. She lives in Murfreesboro with
her husband, Charles and their two cats, Buffy and Wild.